Shogun Shogun shenanigans

[VaporTrail]

Wow. so 206g total. That means .45lb for Arrma shocks?

They're lighter than the MT410/ET48.3 shocks?

Anytime! Your guess as too which shock is a hair lighter.

View attachment 5743

Hrm. That's interesting. 102 together, but 53 and 50 separately.

 

[CCB-MN]

Wow. so 206g total. That means .45lb for Arrma shocks?

They're lighter than the MT410/ET48.3 shocks?



Hrm. That's interesting. 102 together, but 53 and 50 separately.

They honestly do feel lighter in my hand than my Tekno shocks. To be fair, everything on my Tekno “feels” heavier but overall, it’s not bad. Anyway, I can pull one off tomorrow and compare it. I was also going to build up the shocks for the MBX8TR tomorrow as well, I’ll weigh all 3 just for kicks tomorrow afternoon.

Hopefully I’ll have some titanium arriving for it as well!

 

[VaporTrail]

Have we just stumbled onto gold here? The Arrma shocks (at least for me) are smoother than the TC shocks and have produced (for me) a smoother track experience along with being more sturdy. Shock springs seem to be a little scarce, but the TC springs fit them just fine. The piston options are limited, but they'll work for most purposes.

My ultimate goal was to replace the Arrma with the Tekno ones because I thought they were lighter. I'm not exactly convinced of the Tekno's durability, as my 2nd hand ET48 had bent shock shafts, but I was willing to sacrifice that for weight savings.

The Arrma shocks I have are robust and I see no bends yet (knock on wood). If they're (Arrma) lighter and more sturdy than the Teknos, then I may just stick with them.

They honestly do feel lighter in my hand than my Tekno shocks. To be fair, everything on my Tekno “feels” heavier but overall, it’s not bad. Anyway, I can pull one off tomorrow and compare it. I was also going to build up the shocks for the MBX8TR tomorrow as well, I’ll weigh all 3 just for kicks tomorrow afternoon.

Hopefully I’ll have some titanium arriving for it as well!

Wow. Who would've thought? If that is the case, then I may just have to look at piston options for the Arrma shocks, although the stock ones seem to work out just fine.

I don't think there will be much of a difference between the 48.3 and the 48 2.0 shocks, but if you happen to have one off, I'd be curious to see the comparison.

MBX shocks would also be interesting to see as well. I was looking at some when I couldn't find the Kraton shocks.

 

[CCB-MN]

Have we just stumbled onto gold here? The Arrma shocks (at least for me) are smoother than the TC shocks and have produced (for me) a smoother track experience along with being more sturdy. Shock springs seem to be a little scarce, but the TC springs fit them just fine. The piston options are limited, but they'll work for most purposes.

My ultimate goal was to replace the Arrma with the Tekno ones because I thought they were lighter. I'm not exactly convinced of the Tekno's durability, as my 2nd hand ET48 had bent shock shafts, but I was willing to sacrifice that for weight savings.

The Arrma shocks I have are robust and I see no bends yet (knock on wood). If they're (Arrma) lighter and more sturdy than the Teknos, then I may just stick with them.

I would agree with you, I’ve had good luck with them both on the SSTE and I ran them in the Kagama for a short time while waiting for replacements and they ran well on that. I only pulled them off the Kagama because I think the TC ones are a little more robust and my Kagama has become more of my basher/daily driver. I’ve got Tekno shocks on the SSTE at the moment for the same reason, trying to lighten it up but I never had thought about the Arrma shocks.

 

[VaporTrail]

That's an interesting take. Then again, I only have experience with the Shogun/Kronos/Muraco shocks as opposed to the Kagama. Maybe the Kagama shocks are more beefy?

I know the Arrma shafts are thicker than the Shogun ones. Also, when I pulled the shocks off of the Muraco, they were bent a little bit, but nothing so far with the Arrma.

And yeah, talk about a discovery. Arrma lighter than Tekno? Wow.

 

[CCB-MN]

So I went through all of the 1/8 shocks that I’m currently running, or have as back ups to compare weights. I have photos of all of these, but I’m an effort to be polite, I will not post them unless you want to see them. The following is what I found for weights.

I have listed these heaviest to lightest.

Arrma Kraton 6S BLX shocks

Front 49g
Rear 52g
Total 101g


Team Corally Kagama Shock

Front 44g
Rear 51g
Total 95g


Tekno ET48.2 Shocks

Front 44g
Rear 48g
Total 92g


Hobao SSTE Shocks

Front 42g
Rear 48g
Total 90g


Mugen MBX8TE Eco

Front 37g
Rear 44g
Total 81g

Mugen and SSTE both have slightly shorter front shocks that may account for part of the difference. Based upon feel, the Tekno’s feel the most “solid” if that makes sense but the Mugen’s, Arrma and TC shocks seems to be on par with quality as well. The Mugen shocks I have not run yet, so I can’t comment on performance but they are intriguing!

Here is the Hobao as well.

Cheers!

 

[Horatio]

So I went through all of the 1/8 shocks that I’m currently running, or have as back ups to compare weights. I have photos of all of these, but I’m an effort to be polite, I will not post them unless you want to see them. The following is what I found for weights.

I have listed these heaviest to lightest.

Arrma Kraton 6S BLX shocks

Front 49g
Rear 52g
Total 101g


Team Corally Kagama Shock

Front 44g
Rear 51g
Total 95g


Tekno ET48.2 Shocks

Front 44g
Rear 48g
Total 92g


Hobao SSTE Shocks

Front 42g
Rear 48g
Total 90g


Mugen MBX8TE Eco

Front 37g
Rear 44g
Total 81g

View attachment 5744

View attachment 5745

Mugen and SSTE both have slightly shorter front shocks that may account for part of the difference. Based upon feel, the Tekno’s feel the most “solid” if that makes sense but the Mugen’s, Arrma and TC shocks seems to be on par with quality as well. The Mugen shocks I have not run yet, so I can’t comment on performance but they are intriguing!

Here is the Hobao as well.

View attachment 5746

View attachment 5747

Cheers!

Doh! I will have to weigh the Sworkz S35 T2E shocks now for the cause.

 

[CCB-MN]

Did h! I will have to weigh the Sworkz S35 T2E shocks now for the cause.

Please do, now I’m curious.

 

[Horatio]

Please do, now I’m curious.

I'll weigh them up tomorrow sometime. Just got back from an Easter break in Brighton.

All the big stuff from is getting moved next weekend. Internet is getting hooked up on the 9th April - then we're basically in to our new place.

Home office will be set-up on the 10th and we're done.

 

[CCB-MN]

I'll weigh them up tomorrow sometime. Just got back from an Easter break in Brighton.

All the big stuff from is getting moved next weekend. Internet is getting hooked up on the 9th April - then we're basically in to our new place.

Home office will be set-up on the 10th and we're done.

View attachment 5748

No rush! I would love to know the total weight without battery of your T2E as well if you would be so kind? I’ve have the weight of the ET48.2 at 3945g or 8lbs-11.2oz. It’s actually quite a bit lighter than I thought it would be but it still feels heavy. I’m guessing that the Mugen will come in lighter than the Tekno but it may be closer than I expected.

The place looks great! I’m glad the hard part is over and soon you can enjoy it!

 

[VaporTrail]

So I went through all of the 1/8 shocks that I’m currently running, or have as back ups to compare weights. I have photos of all of these, but I’m an effort to be polite, I will not post them unless you want to see them. The following is what I found for weights.

I have listed these heaviest to lightest.

Arrma Kraton 6S BLX shocks

Front 49g
Rear 52g
Total 101g


Team Corally Kagama Shock

Front 44g
Rear 51g
Total 95g


Tekno ET48.2 Shocks

Front 44g
Rear 48g
Total 92g


Hobao SSTE Shocks

Front 42g
Rear 48g
Total 90g


Mugen MBX8TE Eco

Front 37g
Rear 44g
Total 81g

View attachment 5744

View attachment 5745

Mugen and SSTE both have slightly shorter front shocks that may account for part of the difference. Based upon feel, the Tekno’s feel the most “solid” if that makes sense but the Mugen’s, Arrma and TC shocks seems to be on par with quality as well. The Mugen shocks I have not run yet, so I can’t comment on performance but they are intriguing!

Here is the Hobao as well.

View attachment 5746

View attachment 5747

Cheers!

In whatever threads I start, please feel free to post up the pics! I won't mind at all...I love 'em.


That being said....WOW! Talk about hitting one outta the park, CCB! Thanks very much for that! Looks like the Mugen shocks are the winner by a landslide. I wouldn't doubt their performance at all either. The Hobaos look kind of short and are pretty light as well. Interesting. I'm also surprised by the TC shocks; not too far off from the Tekno in terms of weight, but I wonder how they perform. I know I was underwhelmed by the Shogun/Muraco shocks. I mean, they'll work, but the Arrma shocks are definitely smoother.

Looks like I'll have to see if any parts breakers have Mugen shocks. That should be pretty interesting to put a set on the Shogun; it'll drop the weight a little and get me closer to ET48.3 status.

Definitely a gold mine, this!

Doh! I will have to weigh the Sworkz S35 T2E shocks now for the cause.

Aye. T'would be a nice addition!

No rush! I would love to know the total weight without battery of your T2E as well if you would be so kind? I’ve have the weight of the ET48.2 at 3945g or 8lbs-11.2oz. It’s actually quite a bit lighter than I thought it would be but it still feels heavy. I’m guessing that the Mugen will come in lighter than the Tekno but it may be closer than I expected.

The place looks great! I’m glad the hard part is over and soon you can enjoy it!

Oooh...now isn't that interesting? My 48.3 comes in at 3905 grams. It's actually lighter than the 2.0? Hrmm...makes me question the accuracy of my luggage scale. Although to be fair, it's been more or less consistent with the airline scale.

I'll weigh them up tomorrow sometime. Just got back from an Easter break in Brighton.

All the big stuff from is getting moved next weekend. Internet is getting hooked up on the 9th April - then we're basically in to our new place.

Home office will be set-up on the 10th and we're done.

View attachment 5748

Looking gorgeous, Horatio!

 

[Horatio]

Sworkz S35 T2E Front Shock

Sworkz S35 T2E Rear Shock

Xray XT8 17 Front Shock

Xray XT8 17 Rear Shock

I find the fact that the rear shocks are exactly the same weight to be an amazing coincidence!

Just a note CCB - the total weights you've posted need multiplying by 2.

Sworkz T2E:

Front: 39.3g
Rear: 46.6g
Total: 171.8g

Xray XT8 17:

Front: 43.7g
Rear: 46.6g
Total: 180.6g

All up weights to follow.

 

[CCB-MN]

In whatever threads I start, please feel free to post up the pics! I won't mind at all...I love 'em.


That being said....WOW! Talk about hitting one outta the park, CCB! Thanks very much for that! Looks like the Mugen shocks are the winner by a landslide. I wouldn't doubt their performance at all either. The Hobaos look kind of short and are pretty light as well. Interesting. I'm also surprised by the TC shocks; not too far off from the Tekno in terms of weight, but I wonder how they perform. I know I was underwhelmed by the Shogun/Muraco shocks. I mean, they'll work, but the Arrma shocks are definitely smoother.

Looks like I'll have to see if any parts breakers have Mugen shocks. That should be pretty interesting to put a set on the Shogun; it'll drop the weight a little and get me closer to ET48.3 status.

Definitely a gold mine, this!



Aye. T'would be a nice addition!



Oooh...now isn't that interesting? My 48.3 comes in at 3905 grams. It's actually lighter than the 2.0? Hrmm...makes me question the accuracy of my luggage scale. Although to be fair, it's been more or less consistent with the airline scale.



Looking gorgeous, Horatio!

lol, it’s always interesting to see the similarities and differences. My ET48 is basically stock so I’m a little curious how much I could lighten it up but that’s down the road. For now, if I get it around the track in 1 piece I’ll be happy!

The Mugen is lighter all the way around but it’s a completely different machine, imo. I’m excited to run them against each other just to see and feel the differences, or similarities for that matter.

One of the local guys has an ET48.3 that I’m gonna play with this weekend if the weather holds. I’m excited, the 48.3 is a heck of a nice machine!

View attachment 5749
Sworkz S35 T2E Front Shock
View attachment 5750
Sworkz S35 T2E Rear Shock
View attachment 5751
Xray XT8 17 Front Shock
View attachment 5752
Xray XT8 17 Rear Shock

I find the fact that the rear shocks are exactly the same weight to be an amazing coincidence!

Just a note CCB - the total weights you've posted need multiplying by 2.

Sworkz T2E:

Front: 39.3g
Rear: 46.6g
Total: 171.8g

Xray XT8 17:

Front: 43.7g
Rear: 46.6g
Total: 180.6g

All up weights to follow.

Lol, thanks H! It was a Monday, my brain only half works on Monday.

Dang, those T2E and Xray shocks are pretty light as well! Still drooling over your xray.

 

[Horatio]

lol, it’s always interesting to see the similarities and differences. My ET48 is basically stock so I’m a little curious how much I could lighten it up but that’s down the road. For now, if I get it around the track in 1 piece I’ll be happy!

The Mugen is lighter all the way around but it’s a completely different machine, imo. I’m excited to run them against each other just to see and feel the differences, or similarities for that matter.

One of the local guys has an ET48.3 that I’m gonna play with this weekend if the weather holds. I’m excited, the 48.3 is a heck of a nice machine!




Lol, thanks H! It was a Monday, my brain only half works on Monday.

Dang, those T2E and Xray shocks are pretty light as well! Still drooling over your xray.

No worries! The Xray front shocks are longer than the Sworkz. But I'm still amazed that the rear shocks work out exactly the same weight to within 0.1 of a gram.

The Sworkz shocks are the smoothest shocks. The Xray XT8 shocks are awesome but honestly - the T2E shocks are very, very nice.

Mugen shocks were widely regarded as the gold standard of 1/8th shocks. Strong, smooth and leak free.

My take on Mugen was that it was a no compromise brand, that took on the competition but produced kits 10-20% cheaper.

Mugen kits now are the same sort of price as Xray and Kyosho - but they obviously kick ass.

My Sworkz appears to be around 3.9kg with 1515, MMX no batteries and VHT Crusher Road Tyres. Racing Truggy tyres are lighter. The T2E is very lightly built.

However, I would like to weigh it more accurately on a heavy duty digital balance in grams. I'm weighing it on a Salter traditional scales at the moment and it's not as accurate as we need.

My other balances aren't able to weigh over 2kg.

 

[CCB-MN]

No worries! The Xray front shocks are longer than the Sworkz. But I'm still amazed that the rear shocks work out exactly the same weight to within 0.1 of a gram.

The Sworkz shocks are the smoothest shocks. The Xray XT8 shocks are awesome but honestly - the T2E shocks are very, very nice.

Mugen shocks were widely regarded as the gold standard of 1/8th shocks. Strong, smooth and leak free.

My take on Mugen was that it was a no compromise brand, that took on the competition but produced kits 10-20% cheaper.

Mugen kits now are the same sort of price as Xray and Kyosho - but they obviously kick ass.

My Sworkz appears to be around 3.9kg with 1515, MMX no batteries and VHT Crusher Road Tyres. Racing Truggy tyres are lighter. The T2E is very lightly built.

However, I would like to weigh it more accurately on a heavy duty digital balance in grams. I'm weighing it on a Salter traditional scales at the moment and it's not as accurate as we need.

My other balances aren't able to weigh over 2kg.

My wife would love your balances!

 

[XashBE]

While seeing this, i gotta ask a little question:
Generally speaking, do all shocks fit every RC?
Would like shorter ones in front and longer ones in the back, just for the looks

 

[Horatio]

While seeing this, i gotta ask a little question:
Generally speaking, do all shocks fit every RC?
Would like shorter ones in front and longer ones in the back, just for the looks

Most 1/8th shocks can be adapted to fit 1/8th rigs, provided the standoffs are compatible - otherwise they have to be swapped as well.

The things to look for are all geometry related - for example, mounting shorter shocks requires a suitable, relative change to the shocks mounting position, otherwise as the suspension arm moves upwards - the shock could bottom out before the arm reaches it's full travel.

With longer shocks, the mounting position needs to be suitably modified to ensure the ride height isn't changed. On some rigs, this may mean changing the shock towers.

Truggies went through a phase of running buggy length shocks as tracks got smoother. Personally, I prefer the longer shocks because in blighty, we tend to run on bumpier, grass/soil type tracks which generally are not perfectly manicured, sugared, groomed etc between rounds.

In 1/10th Buggy, I changed my CAT 3000's front shock mount and upgraded to longer front shocks and stood them up a little - I found this really helped on our grass track as the track got rougher through a race weekend. I also found the shocks to be less prone to fail.

Short shocks are lighter. Having less mass at the ends of the car makes our rigs easier to rotate and thus change from one direction to another quicker. Being shorter usually means they sit lower, which in turn keeps the centre of gravity lower, reducing roll and increasing corner speed.

Longer shocks have larger volume of oil, have larger stroke and enable the potential for larger amounts of useful suspension travel - especially for rigs with bigger wheels/tyre combos. Longer shocks have more potential on rutted or blown out tracks. They can also be mounted, where the shocks angle can be aligned in such a way that it has optimal control over the suspension arm as the arm moves through it's full travel. This can provide optimal damping, which can be extremely useful on tracks which are both bumpy and have a large number of jumps.

I hadn't intended to write a book in this response! There's a bunch of other related stuff, including progressive rate springs - but I'd better save that for another post!

 

[XashBE]

Most 1/8th shocks can be adapted to fit 1/8th rigs, provided the standoffs are compatible - otherwise they have to be swapped as well.

The things to look for are all geometry related - for example, mounting shorter shocks requires a suitable, relative change to the shocks mounting position, otherwise as the suspension arm moves upwards - the shock could bottom out before the arm reaches it's full travel.

With longer shocks, the mounting position needs to be suitably modified to ensure the ride height isn't changed. On some rigs, this may mean changing the shock towers.

Truggies went through a phase of running buggy length shocks as tracks got smoother. Personally, I prefer the longer shocks because in blighty, we tend to run on bumpier, grass/soil type tracks which generally are not perfectly manicured, sugared, groomed etc between rounds.

In 1/10th Buggy, I changed my CAT 3000's front shock mount and upgraded to longer front shocks and stood them up a little - I found this really helped on our grass track as the track got rougher through a race weekend. I also found the shocks to be less prone to fail.

Short shocks are lighter. Having less mass at the ends of the car makes our rigs easier to rotate and thus change from one direction to another quicker. Being shorter usually means they sit lower, which in turn keeps the centre of gravity lower, reducing roll and increasing corner speed.

Longer shocks have larger volume of oil, have larger stroke and enable the potential for larger amounts of useful suspension travel - especially for rigs with bigger wheels/tyre combos. Longer shocks have more potential on rutted or blown out tracks. They can also be mounted, where the shocks angle can be aligned in such a way that it has optimal control over the suspension arm as the arm moves through it's full travel. This can provide optimal damping, which can be extremely useful on tracks which are both bumpy and have a large number of jumps.

I hadn't intended to write a book in this response! There's a bunch of other related stuff, including progressive rate springs - but I'd better save that for another post!

I don't mind walls of text, i'm no TikTok generation
Makes me actually learn something, thanks.

Yeah, tower will probably need to get replaced, thinking about an ADU Racing one anyway, so that should do the trick. And if i go offroad i can still swat them out rather fast. I mean, shock change is about 5 minutes.

 

[VaporTrail]

Ran the Shogun again this weekend with the new motor. I think I'm gonna have to either go with a slightly larger pinion or go up in KV on the motor. The 1850 is nice in that it runs cool (132F), but good gravy...it's still a torque monster. More of a brute than the stock Kuron motor, although that's to be expected since the Kuron is a 2025KV.

It was also a pretty rough run. I popped a pillowball, ended up on my lid enough times that I cracked the Finnisher body. I also ran the 48.3, but the servo blew out on that one, so I had to go back to the Shogun.

Drivability-wise, the Shogun is shaping up nicely. She rotates pretty good in the turns and can handle all but the most egregious of ruts and bumps at speed. I'm going to try removing the center brace (near the motor) to lighten her up a little more; hopefully I don't end up with a bent chassis. If it does bend at least I have a spare, so I'm not too worried.

Going back to the HS motor, that thing will upset her line if I mash the throttle right away. She'll wiggle her butt enough that she'll wander, but all you need to do is let off on the throttle and make a steering correction and she'll go back to straight. Transversely, I could buy another Xerun motor, but at 164 bucks, I think I'd rather try a more budget friendly motor first. Maybe what I'll do is put the Castle 2200 motor back in and see how she drives with that. I have a feeling that's going to be money.

And as a side note, if any of you are running the MMX6S and have it on auto-lipo, be aware that a HV 4S lipo will be read as a 5S. You'll get to do a couple of throttle blips before the voltage cutoff (I set mine at 3.8v per cell) kicks in. I had to adjust the voltage cutoff from 3.8 to 3.5 in order for me to run it. Kinda annoying, but oh well. I was running 2 HV 2S packs, and she did not like the weight distribution. Guess I'll use those for my touring car now. Going to change the XR10 Pro I have in my touring car to a Mamba X so that I can make use of that extra voltage.

Ran the Shogun against a Losi 8ight Te 3.0. She did pretty good once I started to get the hang of the HS motor, although I did oversteer a couple of times. Once I got that smoothed out she was definitely in the running.

 

[Horatio]

Ran the Shogun again this weekend with the new motor. I think I'm gonna have to either go with a slightly larger pinion or go up in KV on the motor. The 1850 is nice in that it runs cool (132F), but good gravy...it's still a torque monster. More of a brute than the stock Kuron motor, although that's to be expected since the Kuron is a 2025KV.

It was also a pretty rough run. I popped a pillowball, ended up on my lid enough times that I cracked the Finnisher body. I also ran the 48.3, but the servo blew out on that one, so I had to go back to the Shogun.

Drivability-wise, the Shogun is shaping up nicely. She rotates pretty good in the turns and can handle all but the most egregious of ruts and bumps at speed. I'm going to try removing the center brace (near the motor) to lighten her up a little more; hopefully I don't end up with a bent chassis. If it does bend at least I have a spare, so I'm not too worried.

Going back to the HS motor, that thing will upset her line if I mash the throttle right away. She'll wiggle her butt enough that she'll wander, but all you need to do is let off on the throttle and make a steering correction and she'll go back to straight. Transversely, I could buy another Xerun motor, but at 164 bucks, I think I'd rather try a more budget friendly motor first. Maybe what I'll do is put the Castle 2200 motor back in and see how she drives with that. I have a feeling that's going to be money.

And as a side note, if any of you are running the MMX6S and have it on auto-lipo, be aware that a HV 4S lipo will be read as a 5S. You'll get to do a couple of throttle blips before the voltage cutoff (I set mine at 3.8v per cell) kicks in. I had to adjust the voltage cutoff from 3.8 to 3.5 in order for me to run it. Kinda annoying, but oh well. I was running 2 HV 2S packs, and she did not like the weight distribution. Guess I'll use those for my touring car now. Going to change the XR10 Pro I have in my touring car to a Mamba X so that I can make use of that extra voltage.

Ran the Shogun against a Losi 8ight Te 3.0. She did pretty good once I started to get the hang of the HS motor, although I did oversteer a couple of times. Once I got that smoothed out she was definitely in the running.

Thanks for pointing out the MMX auto lipo quirk. I haven't run 4S on my MMX, but when I do, I'll know what I'm up against! Cheers!

It's going to be lots of fun combining bashing with racing against race rigs and seeing how they fair. I'm impressed with the Kronos XTR performance - it handles well enough I reckon, it's just a tad on the heavy side. I look forward to either meeting up with some E Truggy owners (rare now in the UK) or doing some time trials of my own.

Once all the rigs, drones and planes are in their rightful place - I can get my head back into RC.

We're now awaiting the telecom engineer to visit and activate our broadband - some time between 8am - 1pm. In the meantime, cellular internet actually works where we live now!

The downside is - we have no control over our heating system until it's up and running. The joy!